Trying to figure out what to do with old jeans normally ends in one conclusion – throw them away. This results in a lot of wasted material, which is exactly why Nudie Jeans has decided to start doing things differently. They are taking worn-out jeans and turning them into rugs.
The idea of a rug made out of other people’s jeans could be off putting for some, but the denim is cleaned and processed beforehand. More importantly the rugs look pretty cool and are a much better use of the old material than taking up space in a landfill.
(via Luxury Denim Brand Turns Old Jeans Into New Rugs - PSFK - PSFK)
Some past denim-reuse efforts from the Unconsumption archives, here.
The recently launched Amsterdam brand Ikku takes recycled denim and canvas and turns them into eco-friendly cases and sleeves for your laptops, iPads, and iPhones.
(via Recycled Denim & Canvas Tech Cases by Ikku - Design Milk)
![As the name implies, I AM NOT A VIRGIN uses recycled — non-virgin— materials to produce their jeans and T-shirts….
As with many entrepreneurial ventures, IANAV has diverged from its original path over time. [Founder Peter Heron] began by making prototype jeans from fabric scraps collected at various Chinese manufacturing mills with the goal to reduce factory waste, but it didn’t seem to be working.
Spurred on by a friendly tip in early 2011 he started experimenting with a new American-made fabric of 75% cotton and 25% recycled synthetics, including brown beer bottles collected from recycling factories. Although the recycled percentage doesn’t seem like much, Heron explains it’s actually more stable this way. “You need a certain amount of virgin cotton for durability,” he says. “It’s the same as if you were making denim from scraps, the right balance of polyester and cotton will give you a long-lasting jean.”
“We will eventually have different lines of jeans made from green soda bottles, blue water bottles, and my original idea of using fabric scraps collected at the manufacturing mills,” says Heron. “We’re also making T-shirts that are made with recycled food tray (tri-blend black color), clear water bottles (white color), discarded x-ray film (light gray color) and in the future empty yogurt cartons. The T-shirts are super soft and feel great.”
(via I AM NOT A VIRGIN)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6bxuaxJQk1qzv12bo1_400.jpg)
As the name implies, I AM NOT A VIRGIN uses recycled — non-virgin— materials to produce their jeans and T-shirts….
As with many entrepreneurial ventures, IANAV has diverged from its original path over time. [Founder Peter Heron] began by making prototype jeans from fabric scraps collected at various Chinese manufacturing mills with the goal to reduce factory waste, but it didn’t seem to be working.
Spurred on by a friendly tip in early 2011 he started experimenting with a new American-made fabric of 75% cotton and 25% recycled synthetics, including brown beer bottles collected from recycling factories. Although the recycled percentage doesn’t seem like much, Heron explains it’s actually more stable this way. “You need a certain amount of virgin cotton for durability,” he says. “It’s the same as if you were making denim from scraps, the right balance of polyester and cotton will give you a long-lasting jean.”
“We will eventually have different lines of jeans made from green soda bottles, blue water bottles, and my original idea of using fabric scraps collected at the manufacturing mills,” says Heron. “We’re also making T-shirts that are made with recycled food tray (tri-blend black color), clear water bottles (white color), discarded x-ray film (light gray color) and in the future empty yogurt cartons. The T-shirts are super soft and feel great.”
(via I AM NOT A VIRGIN)
Self-described “re-inventor” Benjamin Rollins Caldwell of BRC Designs, who’s made furniture from items as diverse as decks of cards retired from Las Vegas casinos and old bike chains and tires, now counts worn jeans on his raw material list.
In BRC’s studio in South Carolina, jean pockets are fashioned into one-of-a-kind rugs, and jean labels are made into pieces of furniture.
The BRC team scours area thrift stores for jeans, buying them by the carload (check out this Instagram shot), and donates back the pieces they don’t use.
Find more photos and info from Benjamin here, and previous Unconsumption posts on BRC Designs here, and denim reuse here.
BRC’s jean label-covered furniture collection, dubbed “Label Whore,” includes the cabinet pictured below. Hundreds of leather and faux leather labels are nailed onto oak that’s salvaged from defunct pianos. The “Label Whore” table and chair can be seen here.
Cotton fibres actually last much longer than we normally tend to use, or wear them. In 2007, Nudie Jeans started the Recycle Denim Maniacs programme, in which a number of textile students were chosen to create new designs out of old, worn-out jeans.
As an extension of this idea, together with ISKO(tm) we recycle old worn-out jeans in order to manufacture new denim. The garments are cut into pieces, and then milled down to a cotton-like pulp, which in turn becomes new yarn, used for new fabrics.
Vintage cobbler’s molds, delightfully repurposed; image via Tara Sloggett.
(via Remodelista)
See also: Jean jacket repurposed as a planter.
Recycling old jeans into new wearables isn’t new - purses, patches, headbands and belts, we’ve seen it all. But this genius post from Passionfly made my crafty heart skip a beat. Using the waistbands and inseams, she constructed a sturdy doormat that is almost too cute to wipe your feet on!
Click here to see Passionfly’s full tutorial, advises Diary of a Crafty Chica: Doormat Decor: Use Waistbands From Old Jeans
Such a great way to repurpose old jeans.
For how-to info, read Denim Do-it-All Bins @Craftzine.com blog.
For other denim-use ideas, see earlier Unconsumption posts here.
Collaborating with eco-friendly fashion label Loomstate, students from the Parsons The New School for Design recently created a curriculum based on zero-waste design with a focus on denim. The course, mentored by Loomstate’s Scott Mackinlay and Rogan Gregory, serves to educate students about sourcing, dyeing and employing sustainable denim from responsible sources.
Ecouterre rounds up 7 bags made from recycled denim from their recent recycled denim challenge. This checkered woven denim saddle bag by artist Miranda Chance caught my eye because it’s one of the best recycled denim projects I’ve seen around in a long time. It’s stylish and doesn’t still look like a pair of pants.
What to do with old denim / blue jeans (continued):
Instructables offers this frayed denim quilt tutorial.
Gap, Cotton Inc. Partner in Denim Drive
Now that we’re all finished making fun of the Gap logo thing, there’s this:
Gap is offering shoppers in the United States and Canada a 30 percent discount on a new pair of 1969 jeans if they donate used denim at a Gap store through Oct. 20. The promotion is part of “Cotton. From Blue to Green.,” Cotton Inc.’s denim drive to collect old jeans to be converted into UltraTouch Denim Insulation by Bonded Logic Inc., a Chandler, Ariz.–based maker of thermal and acoustical insulation products for multiple industries. The denim insulation made from the donated jeans will, in turn, be donated to needy communities.
Now, a better move, in my view, would be for Gap to lead the way on a PERMANENT denim recycling initiative that wasn’t tied to a discount on its own jeans. Personally I have two or three pairs of ruined jeans that I’d like to do something with, besides throw them in the garbage — but I have no interest in buying Gap jeans. I love the concept of denim converted to insulation, but why does it need to be contingent on a brand-specific purchase?
